WIC At a Glance

Population Served

Pregnant women (through pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after birth or after pregnancy ends).

Breastfeeding women (up to infant’s 1st birthday)

Non-breastfeeding postpartum women (up to 6 months after the birth of an infant or after pregnancy ends)

Infants (up to 1st birthday). WIC serves 45 percent of all infants born in the United States.

Children up to their 5th birthday.

Benefits

The WIC target population are low-income, nutritionally at risk:

The following benefits are provided to WIC participants:

Supplemental nutritious foods

Nutrition education and counseling at WIC clinics

Screening and referrals to other health, welfare and social services

Program Delivery

WIC is not an entitlement program as Congress does not set aside funds to allow every eligible individual to participate in the program. WIC is a Federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a specific amount of funds each year for the program. WIC is

administered at the Federal level by FNS

administered by 90 WIC state agencies, through approximately 46,000 authorized retailers.

WIC operates through 2,000 local agencies in 10,000 clinic sites, in 50 State health departments, 34 Indian Tribal Organizations, the District of Columbia, and five territories (Northern Mariana, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands).